Newcastle United suffer blow in bid to land experienced France attacker

Geordies may now have to look elsewhere for a new forward next season.

Newcastle United’s hopes of signing Olympique de Marseille front man Andre-Pierre Gignac this summer have hit the buffers with the player hoping to secure a move to a bigger club instead, reports the Mail on Sunday.

The experienced France international has been the subject of interest from the Magpies of late, who want to take the 27-year-old to St James’ Park when the summer transfer window finally opens for action once again on July 1.

The Geordies see the powerful and muscular centre forward as being the ideal man with which to lead their line in the north east next season, with Gignac having registered 32 goals and seven assists in 101 matches in all competitions since moving to the South of France from Toulouse in Aug 2010 for a fee believed to be in the region of between 16 and 18 million euros.

That transfer, though, may not now take place with Gignac having reportedly instructed his advisers to find him a ‘bigger’-name club to join this summer.